Marco Rota

(b. 18 September 1942, Italy)

Marco Rota started his career in 1958 as an illustrator of adventure comics for Dardo publishers. He drew 'Steve Morgan il Trappolatore' in Collana Scudo, as well as humorous comics in Tarzanetto. Four years later, he was hired by Mondadori, the publisher of the Italian Disney magazine Topoplino. He became one of the editors of Topolino, as well as one of the most notable artists. As a "Duck artist", Rota excels for his beautiful backgrounds and panoramic city views.

His most notable work is the 'Mac Paperini' ('Andold Wild Duck') series, where Donald is portrayed as a Scotisch lord. Later on, Rota took on some 'Mickey Mouse' comics, in which he reverted to Floyd Gottredson's classic stories. In 1984, he wrote and drew 'Buon compleanno, Paperino!', a slightly controversial look on Donald's birth and childhood.

From 1974 to 1988, he was editor-in-chief of the Italian Disney publications. When Italy's Disney properties were transferred from Mondadori to the Disney Company, Rota continued to draw Duck stories for the Danish publisher Egmont.

In addition to doing Disney stories, Rota drew some apocryphal stories of 'Superman-Nembo Kid' and 'Batman' for Mondadori between 1963 and 1966. In 1966, he began a collaboration with the magazine ABC, for which he drew two weekly pages of the satirical soft-erotic series 'Justine'. Two years later followed 'Ringo il Vichingo' in the short-lived magazine Off-Side of Editoriale Nova. He returned to ABC in 1969 with 'Robin a Hood' and Segreto Professionale'. In the 1990s, he has illustrated some comics with 'Calimero'.